The Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) has announced they have incorporated sustainability into the scoring rubric for the annual Green Star Awards program. Sustainability has become one of the most important elements of a landscape management program and landscape managers around the world have worked diligently to build sustainable practices and ideals into their programs and routines. In keeping with this, PGMS has built specific scoring components into their Green Star Awards program scoring rubric in an effort to both acknowledge and evaluate a landscape programs sustainability practices. New sustainable judging elements in the rubric include: in the landscape category, demonstrated sustainable practices and methods; in the challenges category, multiple responsibilities including certification processes for sustainability; and in the turf category, demonstrated sustainable practices and methods.
“Clearly, we have a vested interest in the implementation of the Sustainability initiative,” said Joe Jackson, CGM (Certified Grounds Manager), the PGMS vice president and Director of Grounds & Sanitation Services for Facilities Management at Duke University in Durham, N.C. who serves on the Sustainability Sites Initiative Task Force.
The Green Star Awards program brings national recognition to grounds management programs that exhibit a high degree of excellence in certain areas, most importantly in sustainability practices and policies but also in turf management, landscape design and more. More details on the program can be found at http://www.pgms.org/greenstars.htm.
